97 Animals Beware!

The history of executions is not a pleasant story. Executions that took place in the Middle Ages were especially bizarre. For example, many of the victims were animals. It was common for animals ranging from insects to wolves to be tried publicly. Ecclesiastical courts, which were courts that represented the church, would often decide that certain animals were witches or heretics. The court’s punishment was often excommunication (expulsion from the church), torture, or death. One of the last animal executions took place in France in 1740. The presiding judge ordered that a cow be hung by its neck because he believed it to be a sorcerer.

One of the most striking stories recorded concerned a pig that lived six hundred years ago. This pig had killed a little girl—or at least this is what the judge was told. For its crime, the pig was to have its legs mutilated, and then it was to be hanged. In preparation for this grisly end, the pig was dressed up in a child’s jacket and ceremoniously dragged into the public square. The execution was called a “six sous” job because the executioner was given six French sous, or pennies, to buy a pair of gloves in order to keep his hands clean during the execution.

97 动物们当心！

处决的历史不是一个令人愉快的故事。中世纪的处决尤其怪异，例如，许多受刑者是动物。从昆虫到狼，各种动物被公开审判是很常见的事。代表教会的宗教法庭常常判定某些动物是女巫或异端，惩罚通常是逐出教会、酷刑或死刑。最后一次动物处决之一发生在1740年的法国，主审法官下令将一头牛绞死，因为他认为这头牛是巫师。

有记录的最惊人的故事之一与六百年前的一头猪有关。这头猪杀死了一个小女孩——至少法官是这么被告知的。作为惩罚，这头猪要被打断腿，然后绞死。为了准备这可怕的结局，这头猪被穿上了儿童夹克，隆重地拖到公共广场。这次处决被称为“六苏的活”，因为刽子手得到了六个法国苏（便士），用来买一副手套，以便在处决过程中保持双手干净。